The Birth of a Bus

Bus build continued:

#1 & 2 With the mastic applied, the crane lifts the huge sheet of tile into the air and with the help of a few workers is placed onto the mastic.

#3 & 4 Screws with large fender washers are placed all around the perimeter and in known non-heated areas of the floor to secure the tile sheet to the sub floor. For securing the tile in the center section, the floor is energized causing it to heat up. The worker then walks the floor with a FLIR camera to place the middle hold downs. The box that energizes the floor also has an alarm. If any heat wire is broken, then a loud alarm goes off alerting the worker to the problem.

#5 With the floor in place, all of the plumbing and electrical wiring is pulled through the openings in the tile in preparation of setting the fixtures and appliances.

#6 The shower stall is laid flat and filled with water to test the unit for water tightness.

#7 & 8 Another massive amount of wires to route is at the firewall of the dash board area. Pic 7 is the behind the firewall pic and 8 is the drivers side.  I can't imagine keeping all that wiring straight and hooking it up to the correct place! 

#9 & 10 The preassembled cabinet sections are bought over and set in place on the floor. Workers secure the sections to the floor, and route the necessary wires and plumbing lines to the appropriate fixture.

Stay tuned! More to follow as this was still day one!

You're not at all excited are you Marty? ;D

Were you able to custom order anything?  (extra cable runs, etc.)  I'd be tempted to jump up there and start adding stuff

Cool.  We used to do the same basic procedures with the boats.  I love watching stuff like that. 

Nice shots, Marty, but curiously I only count nine pix.

I only count nine pix.

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Larry, I count 10, but had to use both hands  ;D

Tom said:

Larry, I count 10, but had to use both hands  ;D

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Odd, I do too, now. But I counted three times this morning and only got nine. Perhaps I'm only firing on 2.535 cylinders... 

Kevin Means said:

You're not at all excited are you Marty? ;D

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How could you tell Kev!  Just like a little kid at Christmas!

Mile High said:

Were you able to custom order anything?  (extra cable runs, etc.)  I'd be tempted to jump up there and start adding stuff

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Oh yeah Brad. We deleted some stuff we didn't want, changed some furniture, and even got the lead carpenter to custom make some cabinetry for us!  As long as you don't get too crazy, they can be real easy to work with. 

I had the carpenter modify a sliding shelf unit under the sink, and since Diane wanted more counter space I eliminated a recliner chair and had the carpenter build another counter top area using the same cabinetry wood and even a matching solid surface top!  Tiffin worked with me and we just traded off the recliner for the labor and counter top so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket. 

Larry N. said:

Odd, I do too, now. But I counted three times this morning and only got nine. Perhaps I'm only firing on 2.535 cylinders... 

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It can happen Larry. I have been running on red line for about 3 weeks now!

It can happen Larry. I have been running on red line for about 3 weeks now!

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True, Marty, but I don't have the excitement and anticipation of a new coach to blame.  ;D ;D

SargeW said:

Oh yeah Brad. We deleted some stuff we didn't want, changed some furniture, and even got the lead carpenter to custom make some cabinetry for us!  As long as you don't get too crazy, they can be real easy to work with. 

I had the carpenter modify a sliding shelf unit under the sink, and since Diane wanted more counter space I eliminated a recliner chair and had the carpenter build another counter top area using the same cabinetry wood and even a matching solid surface top!  Tiffin worked with me and we just traded off the recliner for the labor and counter top so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket. 

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Awesome!  Good move on the carpenter, that is hard to do after its built (matching wood, etc)

And in chatting with the carpenter, he used to have a job matching colors for a furniture manufacturer.  So the finish on the new counter base is spot on.  We went with a Natural Cherry finish, which has slightly reddish hue that really shows off the natural grain of the wood. He nailed the color match. 

Back to the build pics.  As the process moved on, the dashboard and all of it's myriad of wires starts getting hooked up. It's a wonder anything works with all of the connections that need to be hooked up to the right place.

And this is something different that I will need to learn about. I have 2 toilets in the new rig ;D  both of them are electric flush ???

And #3 is the "brain center" for much of the rig. This is what the panel looked like after a worker spent about 2 hours hooking up, controlling, and tying down about a hundred wires.

#4-Ever wonder how they managed to get those heavy washers and dryers into those tight spaces in the back of the rig? EASY! They slide them in before the walls are in. 

#5-The shower and several of the preassembled cabinet units are now in place.

#6-And here is another new bit of technology for me to learn about. An AquaHot now controls the water heating and space heating functions in the rig. The AquaHot is electric or diesel powered. No more propane anywhere on the rig.

#7 & 8-And now it is time to have the first sidewall set in place. A huge overhead crane handles the heavy lifting.

#9-And the back panel of the rig is set into place. This will eventually be covered up when the rear cap is set. It was cool to get pics of the rear wall before it was covered, never to be seen again.

#10-And now the passenger sidewall is set into place. Now it is starting to look like a real RV. It's hard to believe that this is still day 1!

Almost to the end of day 1. More to come!

Fantastic, Marty! I can only imagine your excitement at seeing it all come together...  ;D

Nice, Marty. Thanks for sharing those pics.

#6-And here is another new bit of technology for me to learn about. An AquaHot now controls the water heating and space heating functions in the rig. The AquaHot is electric or diesel powered. No more propane anywhere on the rig.

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You'll learn to love it. If it's like my Beaver was, it'll be a LOT quieter than the propane furnace. Do you also have the engine heater option?

I don't think it has a Motoraid function. It's all handled by the Aquahot.

SargeW said:

I don't think it has a Motoraid function. It's all handled by the Aquahot.

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THe AquaHot 450D has three source of heat: Diesel burner, electric, and the engine. The engine loop can also be used to preheat the engine. This is the version in the Bus. In essence the engine loop is like "motoraid".
AquaHot also make a 400D that does not have the engine loop/pump.

Thanks Ken. For the time being, I don't know what I don't know!  There will be a learning curve once I take delivery of the Bus.  I'm excited to start.

Well it's been three days, Sarge!  Updated pics? )

Been in some places with lousy internet, so posting pics is tough. Will try again later tonight.

Super Cool. 

That's a job I wouldn't mind having - at least for awhile.  Knowing how it was put together could be priceless someday.

Now your first post was May 27, and you indicated that it would be 4 or 5 days before it rolled off the line - ready for paint.

Just curious - how much longer before you take delivery?